Lost and helpless two days after Sandy struck, the longtime New Dorp Beach resident spotted black cars rolling down Mill Road, a block from her Neptune Avenue home.

"I said to my neighbors, 'Let's go,' " said Ms. Solli.

She thought it was the president. Needing help and looking for government action, she raced to the vehicles. Upon reaching them, Ms. Solli learned they held a pair of U.S. senators: Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

"We're going to die" in New Dorp Beach, where, she said, there'd been no help from the government. Ms. Solli was interviewed by numerous news outlets. A picture of her appeared on the front page of the Advance on Nov. 2, 2012, above the headline that read "WE NEED HELP."

Nearly 365 days later, $16,000 from the government, and a presidential visit, Mrs. Solli feels let down by those who promised her action.

"I'm really disappointed with the government. After President [Barack] Obama left, there was nothing. Zero since the president. It was all an act," she said. "It was a stage show to show the government was going to do something."

If it wasn't for her job, family, friends and complete strangers who volunteered to help, Ms. Solli is convinced she'd be dead.

"I wouldn't even be talking to you today. Mold was crawling everywhere [in the house]. We had to evacuate everything. I thought the government was going to do a better job with financial help."

The Sandy victim whose home was battered by the storm last year told the Advance a combination of helping hands -- including an anonymous $500 donor -- helped get her back on her feet.

"It's a start," she said. "But there's still a lot more work to do."

Ms. Solli sleeps on a couch in her living room, several feet from a box of bursting folders filled with government papers and household bills. Without a working refrigerator and stove, Ms. Solli is forced to order out for meals.

It could be worse, she insists.

"I know people died," she said, adding that the people who won't be able to ever return from the storm need to be remembered.